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Betty Boop Cameo Doll
Cameo Doll ---- The first Betty Boop dolls were created by Joseph Kallus at the Cameo Doll Factory in the 1930s and debuted in 1931. Only 1000 of these wooden-jointed dolls were made. The size of the Betty Boop dolls were 17 inches, Betty even had her own quote. Betty Boop: "Hello, my little friend. I am so happy to meet you. I've always wanted to come to your house and show you Happiness! Everybody likes me, so that's why I'm a movie star. And, of course, I like everybody, especially you and all your little friends." The alternative dialogue was "Hello, my little friend. I am so happy to meet you. I've always wanted to come to your house. A little birdie told me about the fine play room you have and I'm so glad to share your happiness. Maybe you would like to know more about me. Would you? All right. Listen carefully... I was born in an artist's studio. Max Fleischer, the nice man who draws the funny pictures of Bimbo and his animal friends, found me. He taught me to dance - sing. To swim and to play tennis. How to play the piano and to cook too. Everything a good little girl should do. Then he put me in the movies as leading lady with Bimbo. Everybody liked me as soon as they saw me. That's why I'm a movie star. And I liked them too; ~ especially you and all your little friends. Not so long ago I met the man who owns Doll Land. He called me in his office the other day. 'Betty' he said, 'the children like you so well I'm sending you to visit them.' So I started out and within a very short time reached your town. And here we are together! I hope, dear friend, you like me very, very much. I like you and want to be with you all the time. I know we'll be happy." In 2005, an all-porcelain replica of the beloved 1930s Betty Boop doll was remade from the Danbury Mint Collection, but the size of the replica is only 13 inches. Doll design gave Joseph L. Kallus a career that he had not considered when he first entered Pratt Institute on a scholarship. The bisque dolls and figurines of Kewpie were probably produced in Germany during 1912, 1913 and 1914 and likely again in the 1920s after World War I. In 1916, Kallus himself founded the Rex Doll Co. to produce composition Kewpie dolls, as supplies from Germany were halted by the war. These dolls were distributed by Borgfeldt, who controlled all production rights to Kewpie dolls and figurines. With permission from Borgfeldt, the Rex Doll Co. also made a line of composition Kewpie dolls that were distributed by the Tip Top Co., a distributor of carnival prizes. In 1918, Kallus received the first of many copyrights on his own doll designs. His first character doll was Baby Bundie. That year, at age 24, Kallus attempted to secure an assignment for the war effort. He had several of his instructors at Pratt Institute, among them Frederick T. Baker and O.W. Beck, and Frank Vincent DuMond, an instructor at the Art Students' League of New York (where Kallus had also studied ), submit letters of reference to Charles Dana Gibson, the famous illustrator and creator of the "Gibson Girl," who was Chairman of Pictorial Publicity in New York for the war effort. Instead, Kallus trained for fire observation during World War I. From 1919 to 1921 Kallus was President of the Mutual Doll Co., a firm that made composition Kewpies; Baby Bundie dolls; and Bo- Fair, Dollie and Vanitie, who had specially designed socket joints. Kallus resigned from Mutual in 1921. In 1922, Kallus established the Cameo Doll Co., which lasted in one form or another until 1982 when Kallus assigned all his properties to Jesco, Inc. Most of the dolls and animals made by Cameo until after World War II were of composition and segmented wood joints. For Borgfeldt Cameo made Kewpies and introduced the Kallus designs Baby Bo Kaye and Little Annie Rooney. Little Annie Rooney was the creation of Jack Collins who wrote and illustrated comic strips for newspapers. Little Annie Rooney was made as an all- bisque figure and as a fully- jointed composition doll. The Cameo Doll Products Company was located in Port Allegheny, Pennsylvania, from 1933 until 1968, when the molds for dolls were taken over by the Strombecker Corporation of Chicago. In October 1934 a fire almost devastated the entire plant during its busiest season. After rebuilding, Cameo also manufactured dolls for other doll companies, who packaged them in boxes with their own company names, most notably the Effanbee Doll Corporation while it was owned by Noma Electric in the late 1940s. Who Framed Roger Rabbit The Betty Boop Cameo Doll appears on Theodore J. Valiant's desk in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In the film, Betty is the only cartoon character that Eddie Valiant takes a liking to. Gallery 1930s betty doll.png 4485255798 7764e6f763 m.jpg Remake dolly.png doll cameo popeye.png Trivia *The dolls appear in the 1933 Popeye the Sailor cartoon as prizes in the ball-toss game. * Mae Questel had a picture taken holding the doll when it was first released. *You could buy them in black, red & green outfits. *The dolls hair color is jet black. *The 1934 cartoon Parade of the Wooden Soldiers revolves around Betty Boop as a doll. *The reason as to why Betty Boop looks like a Kewpie doll is because the company distributed Kewpie and bisque dolls. See Also *Betty Boop to Make Debut November 14 (1931) *Betty Boop Rhymes Offer Opportunity to Win Doll (1931) ---- Category:Betty Boop Toys & Games & Products Category:Dolls Category:Toys Category:1931 Category:Cameo Doll Factory Category:Cameo